Thursday's NBC Nightly News decided it was newsworthy to air a
Democrat's tentative support for a hypothetical Hillary Clinton
presidential run. NBC's Chuck Todd pressed U.S. Ambassador to Japan
Caroline Kennedy on the matter.

"Can you foresee yourself supporting Hillary Clinton in 2016 if she
chooses to run?" Todd asked Kennedy, who reservedly expressed her
support. "Because the last time you didn't support her, that's why I was
just curious if this time you want her to do it and this time you would
be behind her." [Audio here.]

That wasn't NBC's first report on Kennedy support for Clinton. On Thursday's Today, Todd paraphrased his exchange with Kennedy:

"I also asked Caroline Kennedy whether she was ready to support
Hillary Clinton in 2016 for president given that she did not do that in
2008 and instead picked Mr. Obama. While she was hesitant to get
involved in the 2016 campaign, Ambassador Kennedy said she was looking
forward to Hillary Clinton running and thought she'd make a great
candidate."

In response to Todd's repeated questions on her Clinton support,
Kennedy was a little prickly. "Yeah, I just said that. That's great.
Yeah. Yes, I think that would be great," she said of a Clinton
presidential run.

Todd also brought up how Kennedy "angered some Japanese with a tweet condemning the traditional practice
of dolphin hunting," but that bit of of the interview -- which aired on Today -- was omitted from the Nightly News version.

Below is a transcript of the segment:

NBC
NIGHTLY NEWS
4/24/14
[7:13 p.m. EDT]

BRIAN WILLIAMS: An interesting and admittedly briefly tense exchange
between our political director and chief White House correspondent Chuck
Todd and America's new ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy. Chuck is
in Japan traveling with the President on his four-nation Asia tour. He
put a political question to Ambassador Kennedy about a potential Hillary
Clinton run for the White House after she forcefully supported
President Obama back in '08.

(Video Clip)

CHUCK TODD: Can you foresee yourself supporting Hillary Clinton in 2016 if she chooses to run?

CAROLINE KENNEDY: Can I foresee myself?

TODD: Yeah.

KENNEDY: Sure.

TODD: Would you like to see her run?

KENNEDY: I would like to see her run if that's what she wants to do. I think she would be great.

TODD: Because the last time you didn't support her, that's why I was
just curious if this time you want her to do it and this time you would
be behind her.

KENNEDY: Yeah, I just said that. That's great. Yeah. Yes, I think that would be great.

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